The Tale of a Tablecloth

Years ago I found a listing for a box full of table linens that someone was giving away.  The minimal photos looked somewhat promising, and the pickup location wasn't too far away, so I headed out to see if there was any treasure to be found.  As you may have guessed, this blouse was made from a tablecloth and matching napkins that I found in that box.

I would also like to state that this is clearly a machine made textile.  I'm not sure I would ever be comfortable cutting into an antique, but I certainly wouldn't do so with a pattern that I have never tried in a style that I am not sure that I am going to love.  In fact, I have since seen a duplicate in someone's house which confirms that this is not a precious antique that someone spent hundreds of hours creating.  There is a trend to upcycle antique linens and it hurts my heart when they are made into something that is not going to stand the test of time, especially considering that the textile has managed to survive for close to 100 years.  Obviously, anyone can do whatever they like with the textiles that they have in hand, but it would be nice to think that their refashion is going to last more than a wear or two.  Rant over.

Getting back to this particular project . . . I had an idea in my head and went rummaging through my patterns to find something Victorian themed.  Obviously, this is not 45" or 55" yardage, so I wasn't entirely sure that I would get a blouse to fit in a way that could make the embroidered motifs shine.

Thankfully, there were a few matching napkins that made it possible to include the sleeve flounces, because that detail is really why I chose this particular pattern.

After spending some time reflecting on how best to use the embroidered bits, it was time to put everything together.

I hand finished the edges of the shoulder and sleeve flounces because I love any excuse to add hand stitching to a project.

After staring at the edges of the napkins for some time, I decided to add an extra ruffle to the collar edge, mostly because it seemed wasteful to scrap all of that extra embroidery.

I was slightly concerned that the ruffle was going to be too much, but in the end, I think it finishes the upper edge quite nicely.  And as a pigment challenged individual, it's always nice to have a clear contrast between the edge of the fabric and one's skin.

I went ahead and used the finished edge, so no additional hemming was required for my mini ruffle.

This blouse buttons up the back, and I knew that bound buttonholes were not the best fit for this project, so I pulled out my vintage buttonholer.

If I feel the need to use machine buttonholes, I will only use a vintage buttonholer.  I have had nothing but bad luck with contemporary buttonhole feet, and I do not have plans to use one ever again.

For the buttons, I have plenty of cream colored options stashed away, so I found something I felt was a good match without overthinking them too much.

And that's the finished blouse.

It's a lot of look, but I feel myself drawn more and more to antique silhouettes, and this project was a nice way to dip my toes back in with more historically themed silhouettes.

So I thank this tablecloth for its service, and welcome it to its second life as a frilly top in my wardrobe.

80s Does 40s

This is a more recent vintage reproduction from Butterick.  It is one of those 1980s designs that clearly draws inspiration from a 1940s silhouette and what immediately caught my attention, especially View D.

I purchased this rayon challis a couple of years ago, and it gives me vibes that channel both the 1940s and 1980s, so it seemed like the perfect choice for the pattern.

It's a fairly simple design that uses pleats at the waistline and the shoulders to shape the bodice.

But I will say that this pattern did make me stop in my tracks when I first pulled out the pattern tissue.

Taking inspiration from vintage patterns that were often single sized, this reproduction pattern has a printed zipper pull and teeth notated right on the pattern tissue as I have seen on quite a few 1970s and 80s patterns.  But to my surprise, the zipper was printed on the center front of the skirt piece.  My immediate thought was "that can't be right."

Most people would probably have noticed that the pattern includes a jumpsuit version.  To my credit, I did notice the jumpsuit - it is just not something that I was planning to make, so my brain wasn't focused on where the zipper opening for that particular version would have to be placed.  And obviously, the most common way to get in and out of a pair of pants is a front fly . . . and there you have the front zipper opening.

Once I had made that discovery, I also realized that the front bodice was left open (another detail that had escaped me on my initial inspection of the pattern illustrations).  So you have a short zipper from waist down a few inches into the skirt/pants, and that's as far as the closure takes you.  To be fair to the pattern, there is plenty of ease created with the numerous pleats drafted into the bodice, so the garment would definitely be wearable as-is, but since I was planning to insert a side zipper into my dress, I thought closing up that center front bodice seam for at least a few inches would make the garment much more wearable.

I used a bunch of different seam finishes on this dress.  For the side zipper seam, shoulder seams, and the front skirt seam that opens into a shaped hemline, I used a standard seam that was pressed open, and finished the raw edges with seam binding.  And I used French seams anywhere I could get away with them.  The enclosed seams are fantastic on a lightweight fabric like this challis.

The front facings were finished with seam binding and constructed as shown in the instructions.

I did want to close up that front bodice slightly, and I contemplated using a snap as a closure, but in the end, just hand stitched the finished facing with a ladder stitch after trying the dress on and figuring out how far I wanted that center seam closed.

The hemline and armholes were finished with a narrow hem and stitched into place by hand.

The left side seam was reinforced with a strip of interfacing before inserting a zipper with a hand pick-stitch.

Side openings are not my favorite technique, but this dress has plenty of ease so getting in and out isn't nearly as painful as other side zippers can be.

And I opted out of adding shoulder pads because I didn't feel like the dress needed them.

The sleeve length slightly extended, and obviously, I went for the longer skirt length.  I had enough yardage for the full length version of the dress, and it seemed silly not to use it and be left with an unusable amount of leftover yardage.

The finishing touch is a self-fabric belt.

The belt really finishes this silhouette nicely.

And I really do think that this dress and fabric combination was mean to be full length now that it's finished.  I just love when I find the perfect fabric to pair with a pattern, even if I had no idea of the combination when the fabric and pattern were initially purchased!

A Not-So-Classic Shirtwaist Dress

I find it very difficult to resist a floral print.  And having a large amount of yardage of one of said floral prints is my idea of sewing heaven because there are no limits to the kind of dress that I can make.

Add to that an interesting pattern design, and it's definitely getting added to the list of projects that I want to make sooner rather than later.

There was a slight issue with the pattern instructions for McCalls 8556, but thankfully I figured out the problem before I had stitched both cuffs into place so there was a minimal amount of seam ripping to be done.

I was also happy to discover that it is possible to make this garment with fabrics that are narrower than 60" wide.

Will I be making this pattern again?  I'm not entirely certain at this point, but if I happened upon enough yardage of some wonderful print, I wouldn't put it past me.

There is just something about a complex design that keeps me coming back for more.  I love something a bit more challenging to keep me interested during the sewing process instead of zoning out with a basic pattern.  Why are there so many entry-level patterns being released when they are all basically the same?

This particular style doesn't require much in the way of fit other than the waistband so I suppose that part of the process is beginner friendly.

The easy fit through the rest of the garment makes this a very easy to wear dress and I have already worn it at least four times since I finished it in September. 

That doesn't happy very often for me, so it is safe to say that I am happy with how this turned out.

The pattern is probably a bit much for a true beginner (especially with the typos in the instruction sheet) but I would still recommend this as an interesting take on the standard shirtwaist dress.  I am really hoping that the Big4 continues to release more complex designs.  There are definitely some of us out here that want to be challenged by our sewing projects!

Dress:  Made by me, McCalls 8556
Shoes:  ReMix "Miranda"
Earrings:  Nicky Butler

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Although this dress didn't turn out quite as expected, I am happy with the result.

First off, the pattern is very fitted.  If I were to make another version, I would probably use a smaller seam allowance to give a bit more ease to the finished dress.

There is just something about negative ease that makes me nervous.  And while I am getting more comfortable sewing with knit fabrics, I'm not sure I will ever get over that particular issue that is very common with patterns drafted for knit fabrics.

The other "issue" that I came across was rather unexpected.

I always remove a wedge of length in the back bodice for fitting purposes, but this dress makes me think that I should have taken even more length out of the back.  

Or perhaps it's something else.

The collar of this dress is extremely tall.  Really, really tall.  I would say that I have a long neck, but this was almost too much for me.

And the reason why is that darn invisible zipper (at least, I am pretty sure it is).  Anyone who has worked with an invisible zipper knows that they do not bend at all.  So that zipper is working almost like a piece of plastic bonding that will not let the length of the back collar fold.

I would hazard a guess that if I hadn't inserted an invisible zipper at center back, the collar would just flatten out to fit any length of neck you might happen to have.  What seems to be happening here is that the inches of zipper in the collar are very stiff, but further down the back, the invisible zipper is able to puff out around my mid-back.

So if you plan to insert the zipper, it's just something to think about - you may want to fold the collar so that it's a bit shorter unless you have a very long neck!

The other disappointment is that I do wish that I had a little more yardage and could have added a few inches to the overall length of the dress.

But really, I do love the overall look of the dress.  And adding to my Halloween themed collection is always fun!

Dress:  Made by me, Vogue 2064
Shoes:  American Duchess "Marigold"
Earrings:  Nicky Bulter